Is Steam becoming Oversaturated with Crap Games?

[chungdr8gon]

For years, i always wanted my own PC to play old gems like Rollercoaster Tycoon, Cossacks:European Wars (Original one) & classic games like Phaoroh & AOE 2 etc. When I first traded in my console for my PC rig which i built myself from scratch, i was filled with excitement with the fun experience of exploring Steam, which was unkown to me at the time, though at first, it was tedious to sift through the bulk of games on Steam. Its been nealy a year since i started my PC experience, and i've had time to adjust to the PC. I've noticed that theres a lot of games on offer, though i can't really complain about that, what i do have a problem with with is, steam. Theres too much quantity over quality and theres no control over this. There are some titles or games that are not even avialable yet are still on steam. For instance, one day i was just looking through Steam games for a game that interested me. I was looking for a game similar to Tokyo Extreme Racer Zero on Steam, & found a game called Wngan Warrior X DEMO. So clicked it only to be returned to the homepage of Steam Store. If the game is no longer available why is it still on Steam? How often does Steam actually update their listings? I know from experience as a PS gamer that PSN is regularly updated, you would never find games unavailable on PSN, but Steam? The good thing i really like about PC gaming compared to console is the Mod community. Consoles didn't have that, which is one of the main reasons why i chose PC over Console gaming. I'm not one of those gamers that likes to mod to cheat, i like to know that i achieved my progress through just playing & not taking the easy way. But its nice to have some light mods here & there to enhace the experience. Theres no way i'm going back to console gaming anytime soon.

[redakdal]

引用自 McHaggisface：

Yes. Steam is full of garbage. But some like garbage. What is the answer to this now

again like they said "Our priority is helping players find games they will enjoy playing."

so maybe they should actually focus on doing that instead of preaching it, if they say "Spamming cloned games or manipulating our store tools isn’t something we will tolerate,"

all I ask is why do they still tolerate it?

[Bernard The Gurnard]

I was answering the OP :/

I have no idea what you are blathering about. Nor do I care.

[Start_Running]

引用自 redakdal：

引用自 Start_Running：

Kinda over thinking this. Video games are a business. EVery business is finding the sweet spots between effort and revenue. If you can fiund a way to have relatively high revenue with a comparatively low amount of effort. Then you've got a leg up in business.

Some devs specializee in make the cheap throw away games that are used as filler in bundles. They maybe get a dime for every bundle sold... thing is. 10 dimes make a dollar, 100 dimes make $10. If you can get 3 of your games in that bundle you make $30 for every hundred people that buy the bundle.

Heck depending on how tax laws are structured and how its done you might be able to further write off your expenditures as tax deductables. Sorta like what Uwe Boll used to do.

true, some games are cheap games made to gain a small profit, I understand, but this again is all based on lying to the buyers, hell the companies buyers aren't even the gamers, they are russian websites that package 10 or 30 games in a $3 or so bundle

There's no lying. The buyers are looking foir lots of games real cheap.. These sites stypically list the games in the bunbdles, so again. Not lying, just catering for a different sort of buyer.

the whole idea and bussiness model is based on many things that not only are apart of a scam, but steam has taken off games like this before, when trading cards were fairly new to steam, devs would make poor games on purpose to get money from the trading system

take
Silicon Echo for example:

Valve has responded to our inquiry, telling us that a single "bad actor" who released games under multiple names—one of which is Silicon Echo, as mentioned above—was engaging in what Valve considers "extreme actions" by releasing "nearly-identical products," "abusing Steam keys," and "misrepresenting themselves on the Steam store." As a result, Valve says it has removed the games and ended its business relationship with the individual. "Spamming cloned games or manipulating our store tools isn’t something we will tolerate," concludes the statement. "Our priority is helping players find games they will enjoy playing."

source:
https://www.pcgamer.com/173-probable-trading-card-farming-games-have-been-removed-from-steam/

Misrepresentation is likely what the tipping point was. That's false advertising. that gets you in hot water real fast.

Simple point is it costs these devs now $100 a pop to release these games. So long as people actually stop bloody well buying these games the devs will look for easy money elsewhere, how ever so long as there are ♥♥♥♥♥ who are trying to make the game count on their profile go uyp... then these people will always be there.

引用自 redakdal：

引用自 McHaggisface：

Yes. Steam is full of garbage. But some like garbage. What is the answer to this now

again like they said "Our priority is helping players find games they will enjoy playing."

so maybe they should actually focus on doing that instead of preaching it, if they say "Spamming cloned games or manipulating our store tools isn’t something we will tolerate,"

all I ask is why do they still tolerate it?

They are... since I have actually yet to see any of the games you mention appear in any search I've made or the store front.

So the point becomes. Maybe not looking for the cheapest game you can find on steam will keep you clear of these sorts of games. Just a thought

[redakdal]

引用自 McHaggisface：

I was answering the OP :/

I have no idea what you are blathering about. Nor do I care.

right of course you don't short and sweet: alot of these steam direct games are apart of a huge scam, but at this point I will just leave it be.

all I am saying this may not seem like a huge deal now, but could be in the near future and its a shame that valve has basically lied to everyone about "standards"

[Bernard The Gurnard]

Oh please don't confuse with someone that doesn't care redakdal. I was just answering the question posed here, directly.

I cannot abide Valve & Steam after my many years here. I'm one of those who hope that this gross monopoly can be soon challenged by someone else and from my point of view I now do all I can do to avoid having to integrate with this dictatorial fascist monster which was always going to end up at this point.

EDIT: Not that I will expect anyone on the horizon to be any different if they were to take over. Meanwhile long live the GOGS and the Big Fish Games and the Uplay and the Ubisofts of this world ;)

[cinedine]

引用自 redakdal：

引用自 McHaggisface：

I was answering the OP :/

I have no idea what you are blathering about. Nor do I care.

right of course you don't short and sweet: alot of these steam direct games are apart of a huge scam, but at this point I will just leave it be.

all I am saying this may not seem like a huge deal now, but could be in the near future and its a shame that valve has basically lied to everyone about "standards"

There is no scam.
Those are low effort game made for people who only care about upping their counters - game count, achievemnt count, level, ...

They know what they are buying. I have never ever heard of someone trying to buy a decent game getting fooled by those.

[redakdal]

Simple point is it costs these devs now $100 a pop to release these games. So long as people actually stop bloody well buying these games the devs will look for easy money elsewhere, how ever so long as there are ♥♥♥♥♥ who are trying to make the game count on their profile go uyp... then these people will always be there.

this is the issue, steam users don't really buy them, scam bundle websites do, and they get users to their site to buy these games, for either again trading card scams, easy achivements, or people who just have no idea these sites are bad


There's no lying. The buyers are looking foir lots of games real cheap.. These sites stypically list the games in the bunbdles, so again. Not lying, just catering for a different sort of buyer.

ok just to prove my point its a scam here is the site that I found from the devs friends list


SELLY.WULF.GG

every game pack states all codes are from Random Games and you cannot get refunds, trading card games, easy achivement games, and a $200 with 12 gem games he never ever mentions any games in any packs



also has bad photoshop of gabes face and markipliers thumbnail from a 50/50 video

how does this guy relate to the maker of the steam games , well the dev okdevs has him and other scam sites as friends on his profile, which again these users add you to buy your game codes



They are... since I have actually yet to see any of the games you mention appear in any search I've made or the store front.

sorry those were company names

here are all the games
https://steamcommunity.com/app/777330 -boy knight Changed name Only One › Boy Knight then removed store page, dev changed achivements to make it look different from evil come

https://store.steampowered.com/app/826130/Pilferer/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/757720/Evil_Come/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/801510/Only_You/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/805780/The_Last_Hero/


So the point becomes. Maybe not looking for the cheapest game you can find on steam will keep you clear of these sorts of games. Just a thought

agreed no user will run into these games, thats the point, these games were never made to actually get real steam users to buy them, thats why they all are asset swaps so they can be sold to people that either want achivements, trading cards or random game

like all scams this only works once, as I have seen users say that this guy has given people really bad bundles with alot of them with dupes or used keys

[redakdal]

引用自 McHaggisface：

Oh please don't confuse with someone that doesn't care redakdal. I was just answering the question posed here, directly.

I cannot abide Valve & Steam after my many years here. I'm one of those who hope that this gross monopoly can be soon challenged by someone else and from my point of view I now do all I can do to avoid having to integrate with this dictatorial fascist monster which was always going to end up at this point.

EDIT: Not that I will expect anyone on the horizon to be any different if they were to take over. Meanwhile long live the GOGS and the Big Fish Games and the Uplay and the Ubisofts of this world ;)

sorry got a bit defense

but yea I see if steam doesn't handle this Oversaturated market, some other company will dominate

they biggest issue steam faces is they aren't taking enough time to actually look and do some QA like back in the day, and this in my view has lead to bad games flooding steam and good indie games shoved to the said

all I am saying is there are so many voices out there, how can a great upcoming dev get out there if he is being walked over by bad games people play for the lolz?

[Bernard The Gurnard]

I guess the cream always rises to the top

[redakdal]

引用自 McHaggisface：

I guess the cream always rises to the top

this is a christian minecraft server sir

[Bernard The Gurnard]

Oh I don't know about that but it generally means if you mix everything up with equal opportunities those who have the innate skills will always rise to the top and become the elite in their area.

Makes sense to the world as that is what happens and dictates the 'order' Not always agreed with of course and there within lie the difference of opinion even at this level of deciding what we all think is 'Crap games', or not.

The best thing is we can discuss our differences here without feeling we need to war over it

[cinedine]

引用自 redakdal：

they biggest issue steam faces is they aren't taking enough time to actually look and do some QA like back in the day [...]
how can a great upcoming dev get out there if he is being walked over by bad games people play for the lolz?

If you can't stand out against those sub-dollar games, you wouldn have made it to Steam anyway. And it's not like they are competition. They are as much in your league as you are in the league of Assassin's Creed, Battlefield and the like.

[MancSoulja]

引用自 Sleepy Yoshi：

There are a handful of real games that have passed 1000, but of the 270ish games with 1k+, they're obviously outliers.

@OP
The pc gaming industry is changing as the barrier for entry that use to exist (engines, lack of store support etc) has all but vanished. Some of this also has to do with the consumer as well. On PC, it's not uncommon to see people with large backlogs of games to play 'someday'.

There are some positives and negatives associated with this for both the consumer and developer, but overall I don't think Steam so much has a crap game problem as the industry (Steam included though its experimenting) hasn't fully adjusted to the exponential growth it's seeing.

Some people do try and take advantage of this through nefarious or questionable means, but I would imagine the proportion of 'good' games to 'bad' games (in so much as we can even use these words) is much the same as it always has been. I personally don't fall on the side of the fence that believes such growth is an inherently good thing, but the concerns I have aren't really levied at the quality of games themselves.

引用自 Start_Running：

引用自 Sleepy Yoshi：

There are a handful of real games that have passed 1000, but of the 270ish games with 1k+, they're obviously outliers.

@OP
The pc gaming industry is changing as the barrier for entry that use to exist (engines, lack of store support etc) has all but vanished. Some of this also has to do with the consumer as well. On PC, it's not uncommon to see people with large backlogs of games to play 'someday'.

That's hording. It's a common side-effect of an acquisition oriented mindset. The act of hunting for deals, shopping, buying, gives a rush and becomes the source of pleasure in of itself to the point that the item is irrelevant. People are hardwired to buy something they perceive to be of high value for low cost. Look up the JC Penny effect. Long and short of it. People are more likely to buy a $60 pair of jeans at 50% discount than a $30 pair, even when they are literally the exact same jeans. That's because the mind pegs the value of the first at $60, not $30.

Ever wonder why on infomercials they always say what the value of what they're selling should/would be normally but then give you the price that's much lowr. It's called anchoring and it is depressingly effective.

There are some positives and negatives associated with this for both the consumer and developer, but overall I don't think Steam so much has a crap game problem as the industry (Steam included though its experimenting) hasn't fully adjusted to the exponential growth it's seeing.

Its not so much the industry as it is the consumer.. The consumer has had years of basically seeing short lists. Either whatever limited selection their local stores bothered to stock, or whatever was mentioned in magazines. Now , they're actually seeing the full scope of the options and possibilities and many are a little scared. Before it was easy to just say 'Good==Popular' but now there's the concept that what's good != popular . They're at the point where they have to consider what 'they' like as yopposed to what everyone else likes.

EVer wonder why so many lost gems from the 16-bit era are RPGs? It's because RPG's in the west were never popular, they didn't really become a thing until ff7. They were generally considered to be boring nerd games. ALl the cool kids played sports gamesm, action games and 2d fighters. If ytou were jump spinkicking someone with half the screen filled with explosions you weren't playing a real game.

THen FF7 changed that with the cinematic cutscenes and general graphics.

Now. People have to ask themselves 'What do I enjoy' and why do I enjoy it. QUestions they never really bothered to ask themselves. Questions which are now important in order to find what games they want to play.

And yeah this doesn't help that there are bad actors that are just in it to make a quick buck.. just like for every pixar/dreamworlks movie there's a low -budget knock off that only exists to confuse relatives and grandparents while at the same time disappointing children. I mean there are studios that literally have that as their entire business model, and they're still doing business.

The point is. Times have changed. the consumer.. needs to change with the times. Be smarter about what they buy, be more aware of why they buy. Did you buy that game because you wanted it or because it was 80% off. Did you buy it because it looked liuke something you'd enjoy playing, or did you buy it just to rack up some easy cheevos?

Thanks for the psychoanalysis guys, but you're both wrong, on my account anyway.

[Start_Running]

引用自 MancSoulja：

Thanks for the psychoanalysis guys, but you're both wrong, on my account anyway.

Well in that case you just need to refine your search strategy. Been long said that most steam users never see these game people are complaining about as crap. Why? Because they aren't dredging the bottom of the barrel for cheap games.

[Mikasa Ackerman]

引用自 Start_Running：

引用自 MancSoulja：

Thanks for the psychoanalysis guys, but you're both wrong, on my account anyway.

Well in that case you just need to refine your search strategy. Been long said that most steam users never see these game people are complaining about as crap. Why? Because they aren't dredging the bottom of the barrel for cheap games.

i did before , to find cheap games for my badge , yet even there , you have screenshots and overall reviews to judge a game even for 40 cents you can tell which game is good and which isnt